Saturday, September 5, 2009
transition from work to school: part 1
As soon as I flew into Texas from the City, I headed straight to the Ignite retreat to soak up the last half of my "reward" after all the hard work I put into this ministry during this past school year. I didn't get to the retreat site until 1:30 AM. As I jumped out of the car and started walking, I happened to look up at the sky and distinctly remember thinking, 'Wowwww, the sky is HUGE!!!' See, Daniel has always commented on the vastness of the sky on his Texas visits, but it wasn't until I spend a whole summer in a city whose buildings and architecture impede the beauty of nature that I fully understood his perspective. Starry nights have never been so beautiful to me as they were in that moment. Even though it had been an exhausting day of work, saying good-byes to my NYC team, and travel, I was so eager to hug my college friends and ministry partners and jump into what God was doing at the retreat so far. It was wonderful to see my Ignite family and be so encouraged by them. One fun difference of this retreat is that my little brother was attending as a camper and he was able to fill me in on things I had missed out on. His joy and enthusiasm over the people he met and what he was experiencing was so exciting and refreshing.
The next morning during small group time, one of the other Execs asked me to prayer walk with her around the camp site over the small groups and the campers and staff. I was so thankful for that opportunity and loved getting to pray with someone over the campers, their time at the retreat, and their upcoming years in college. As we circled the camp together and our prayers flowed freely and easily, I couldn't help but mull over my different attitude toward prayer in NYC vs. Texas. Lord, why does it feels so incredibly difficult to pray in NYC? I'm still trying to process this idea and am becoming convinced that the difficulty is a result of the magnitude of sin and thorny soil in NYC. Sin from greed, pride, sex, and money run rampant in the City and there is so, much, ground to cover in prayer for God to redeem it as over 8 million people swarm Manhattan island on any given day. It was about a year ago where God revealed to me just how much the message and hope of Jesus is constantly choked out by "the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth" (Matthew 12:18-23). I desire more insights into this, especially if God calls me back to the City for full-time work.
My tardiness to the retreat brought some funny reactions. Some people (pretty much all of the campers) had no idea who I was or confused me for another camper. I also became the butt of some jokes and teasing since I was the one who "spend the summer working on Wall Street" and that was 'such a big deal.' Others - mainly the other business majors - were eager to talk to me about my experience and glean any insight I could give them regarding recruiting, careers, and the banking industry. This was a much welcomed reaction because it was such an amazing blessing for me to offer any advice and insight that came to my mind to these eager students, especially considering how much I have been aided and offered wisdom by my older business peers (It should be said that Daniel has permanently reserved a place at the top of this list!). I was glad to help in any way I could and hope that God gives me many more opportunities to share with others with any wisdom and encouragement I gained from Him through my recruiting and internship experience in the past year. I submit that it would be a supreme dishonor to the Lord if I selfishly kept those blessings to myself.
Then, the retreat was over as quickly as it had started for me. Before I knew it, I was drifting in and out of sleep on a bus from the retreat site, trying to tune in to as many inspiring comments from the campers behind me. Without even talking to the rest of the Execs as a group, I know that we are all in awe of how God showed up at camp and took the retreat by storm. It made every second of the work we did for Ignite this past year worth it. We can't wait to see what He does through us this next school year.
The next morning during small group time, one of the other Execs asked me to prayer walk with her around the camp site over the small groups and the campers and staff. I was so thankful for that opportunity and loved getting to pray with someone over the campers, their time at the retreat, and their upcoming years in college. As we circled the camp together and our prayers flowed freely and easily, I couldn't help but mull over my different attitude toward prayer in NYC vs. Texas. Lord, why does it feels so incredibly difficult to pray in NYC? I'm still trying to process this idea and am becoming convinced that the difficulty is a result of the magnitude of sin and thorny soil in NYC. Sin from greed, pride, sex, and money run rampant in the City and there is so, much, ground to cover in prayer for God to redeem it as over 8 million people swarm Manhattan island on any given day. It was about a year ago where God revealed to me just how much the message and hope of Jesus is constantly choked out by "the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth" (Matthew 12:18-23). I desire more insights into this, especially if God calls me back to the City for full-time work.
My tardiness to the retreat brought some funny reactions. Some people (pretty much all of the campers) had no idea who I was or confused me for another camper. I also became the butt of some jokes and teasing since I was the one who "spend the summer working on Wall Street" and that was 'such a big deal.' Others - mainly the other business majors - were eager to talk to me about my experience and glean any insight I could give them regarding recruiting, careers, and the banking industry. This was a much welcomed reaction because it was such an amazing blessing for me to offer any advice and insight that came to my mind to these eager students, especially considering how much I have been aided and offered wisdom by my older business peers (It should be said that Daniel has permanently reserved a place at the top of this list!). I was glad to help in any way I could and hope that God gives me many more opportunities to share with others with any wisdom and encouragement I gained from Him through my recruiting and internship experience in the past year. I submit that it would be a supreme dishonor to the Lord if I selfishly kept those blessings to myself.
Then, the retreat was over as quickly as it had started for me. Before I knew it, I was drifting in and out of sleep on a bus from the retreat site, trying to tune in to as many inspiring comments from the campers behind me. Without even talking to the rest of the Execs as a group, I know that we are all in awe of how God showed up at camp and took the retreat by storm. It made every second of the work we did for Ignite this past year worth it. We can't wait to see what He does through us this next school year.
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Wow! Kelly, what a wonderful blog post. I have SO MUCH enjoyed reading and keeping up with you...and what a great privilege it was to get to see you and hang out for a little bit in NYC. Loved it! You are such an encouragement and blessing to me. I'm eager to hear how this next school year is and all of the great things you'll be doing! Relish it :).
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